Leo's Untold Story
by aspentree11
Summary: Leo meets an unexpected guest during his sixth time running away. One-Shot. Not a romance (unless you want it to be)


Leo's Untold Tale

He was pretty sure he was going to die and yet he was still staring at Nico di Angelo. I mean, honestly, there were flaming rocks being shot at him by mountain gods, and yet some stupid kid was distracting him? He had to get his head together! But, that was the original issue: he didn't have his head together at all.

The moment he saw Nico di Angelo – which was, oh gods, two weeks ago – he hated him. Because something about Nico di Angelo reminded him of who he used to be, and he didn't know why. He wondered if it was because he saw himself within him – but no, no, it wasn't that. He wasn't some creepy zombie boy. He was Leo. But yet…at the same time…

"Leo!" A voice screamed, "A rock nearly hit you and you didn't even move! You okay?" Hazel ran up to him, her brown curls bouncing into the air. Her cheeks were mildly rosy because of her exhaustion, and her eyes were like golden gems filled with worry. He tried not to blush.

"Yeah," he said slyly, though it really wasn't that sly at all because his voice cracked, "I'm fine." He felt Nico's eyes on him. Probably because he was talking to his sister, even though she was dating Frank. Lately his crush on Hazel had been growing, and he wondered if Nico saw that.

"Leo!" Nico's voice echoed, "Get your head in the game!" Leo's eyes shot toward him darkly.

"Do I look like I'm playing around?" He held out his arms and torso to prove that by the look of his burned and shredded clothes that he too trying to get out of this mess. But when Nico looked back at him, it was like he was saying something else. Like he was thinking of something different too.

"I know," Nico's voice shook, "But we don't need any more people gone." An angry thrust surged through him. He thought he couldn't defend himself? Nico thought he was weak? He had no idea what he has been through. He's tamed a metal dragon, beat a bunch of giants, and saved his slightly-evil babysitter (A.K.A. Hera). Even before he knew he was a demigod, he knew how to fight. When his mom died he had to be a fighter. He was tested and pressured his entire life, partially from humanity and partially from Tia Callida. He wanted to tell Nico that he knew what it was like to feel pain. He knew what it was like to be in six different foster homes. He was sure that Nico never knew what it was like to stare at the ceiling for hours on end, debating on whether he should run away again. Or knew what it was like to never bother unpacking because he wasn't planning on staying in his "new home" much longer. And suddenly, the tiredness must had won over, because he found himself thinking about it (which he did much when falling asleep). The aching feeling, the places he would go, when he would get caught. But a new memory caught him – the very last time he ever ran away, before getting trapped into Wilderness School. He never really thought of it much, mostly because it was fuzzy and that was right about the time that Hera had started to manipulate his memories. But for some reason it was clearer, and within one second he was back to where he was the last time he had ever ran away…

He was drowning in the rain. The heavy droplets were falling down his face and into his mouth, suffocating him as he tried to choke down the sobs that were filling him. He let his head fall into the water, tangling his curls until it was a matted mess. _It was over_, he thought to himself, _I finally did it right_. But as his blurry eyes ran across the street, at all of his lonely belongs that had scurried into the road, he didn't feel like he had accomplished anything. He didn't feel like he had sat in that old, dusty bunk bed for hours, counting the ceiling tiles. He didn't feel like he had spent the last month smothering his ears with a pillow to stop hearing the maddening cries of the other children. He didn't feel like he had gone through any pain at all – if anything, he felt like nothing. Like a PTSD infested soldier who had just come out of a legendary bloody battle, but couldn't recall a single thing that had happened. Or just awakening with a heart-throbbing urgency, but not knowing where in the world it had come from.

For the first time, he wondered if they were looking for him. He could hear the conversation already, _Oh, that stupid Hispanic boy! _Or one of the bigger kids in his group-home whispering to the little kids to scare them, _If you're not good, you'll disappear just like Leo. _But none of them knew where he was. None of them knew that he was three hours away, sitting in the middle of a dirt road, not entirely sure if he cared if a car came. Nobody knew that he did it this time; nobody caught him on the way out. He finally left.

"Are you okay?" The voice came out of knowwhere so abruptly that he jumped to his feet. At first, his first instinct was Tia Callida – mostly because she always came at unexpected times – but instead he saw a smaller figure, a little shorter than him, through the rain. He was, and Leo was pretty sure it was a 'he', was too far away in the musty rain for him to see him, but he could hear him perfectly.

"Who are you?" Leo spat, scrambling backwards. He tried to scan the nearest gas station or something, but he was in the middle of nowhere. He had taken a Greyhound Bus to a far away Texas gas station and then walked on foot. He was planning on trying to make it to his old home, but he had only gotten few miles away.

"Nobody," the voice said, shrugging, "But I've been here quite a while, and you're the first person I've seen in a week. I was just wondering if you needed my help?" Leo's eyebrows perched down.

"I don't need anybody's help! I'm trying to make it home. My _real _home." Leo growled, slowly gathering his possessions which had sprawled of his ripped suitcase when he had collapsed to the ground. He swerved the other way.

"Wait!" the voice cracked behind him, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I…I just haven't seen anyone in ages." Leo's feet stopped and slowly turned his head. He evaluated the voice's body figure. He didn't look too old.

"You're alone too?"

"Been alone for a while," he echoed back, "I'm trying to find my way back home too." Leo felt a sob coming up, but he pushed it back down.

"Where's your parents?" Leo asked. "Aren't they going to miss you?" The boy was quiet at first, as if his next words were marveling on his tongue.

"It's complicated." Leo scuffed and continued on his walk. It sounded like a kid who felt bad for himself to him. He didn't have time for an ungrateful kid who didn't appreciate the parents he had. But yet he heard the feet puddle behind him.

"My mom is dead and my dad mind-as-well be," the voice continued. Leo turned his body again.

"If this is your way to convince me to come with you," Leo muttered, "You're wrong. No offense, but I have a half-burned down house to get to." But the boy was persistent.

"And you?" the boy asked, "What's your story? Maybe I can help you. Maybe I can bring you somewhere better. A safe haven." Leo laughed. Typically he would have a witty comment toward that, but since it wasn't a social worker saying this or another relative that didn't want him, he could only see it as amusing.

"I killed my mother and my dad doesn't exist. Happy?" Maybe that would make the kid to leave him alone. He was waiting for the guy to stumble away, to at least be freaked out, but the kid didn't even seem surprised.

"Your dad doesn't exist?" The boy asked, something trembling in his voice, "You don't know who he is? At all?" Leo shook his head.

"No," Leo said, "And I don't want to." The boy was quiet for a moment.

"Have you been like this forever?" The boy asked. "Traveling? Being on your own?" He couldn't help but wonder if the boy was thinking about something.

"No," Leo said honestly, "People keep finding me. This is my sixth foster home and I'm tired of it. I'm leaving forever."

"I think I know how to help you. There are people I know just like you," the boy promised. Leo's lip curled.

"Just like me? You mean orphans? Man, I'm a fighter. I'm tired of being stuck with people who are just like me," Leo said, "Nobody is just like me."

"No, it's a camp," he said, "A camp-school type of thing that'll teach you...stuff." Leo couldn't help but consider it. Not in a foster home? And the wilderness didn't seem too bad.

"I can take you, I can-"

"LEO!" Leo swerved back toward the street. A beat-up car had stopped beside him. Inside his foster father sat, his eyes flaring. They had found him.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked, anxiety filling his voice, "How did you find me? I'm three hours away!" But when he saw the other figure come out from the passenger seat – a nice looking lady with a pencil skirt and a nice blouse – he knew what she was: a social worker.

"Take him!" His foster father growled at the woman, "I don't want him in our house anymore! He's a hazard!"

"Leo," the social worker's voice was so calm and gentle he thought he was going to get sick, "We knew you'd be going to your mother's house. Leo, you have a home here." The woman approached him, and suddenly he swerved around toward the other figure, but the moment he turned he realized the figure had run off. His eyes scanned around him, trying to find the boy, but he must've left. But how? There were no trees for miles, just a dirt road.

He was about to open his mouth, to tell the woman there was someone else here as well, but then he felt something weird – like somebody was behind him. Every neck hair he had elevated and he shivered.

"We'll meet again," said a creepy voice from his shoulder. Leo jumped away from it, and for a small moment he thought he actually saw something – no, not the body necessarily, but two black beady eyes that looked never ending. Like black holes trying to entrap him.

"Did you hear that?" Leo's voice shook, "Did you see him?" The woman looked at him with pity.

"You need some water and food," she said, "You're sick, Leo." Leo's eyes widened.

"No! I'm just…" But then his voice cut off, "I can't go back there. I'm sorry but I can't!" The woman's lips pressed together tightly.

"Fine," she said tightly, "Then where would you want to go, Leo?" He knew he wasn't really supposed to answer, but he spoke before he could stop himself.

"Isn't there some wilderness school you can take me to?"

"Actually," she said, pondering, "There is one. A boarding school a few states away. Do you want me to transfer you there?" And that was how it all started. He got the woman to ship him to Wilderness School where he met Piper and sort've met Jason and how he learned he was a demigod.

But then he was looking at Nico again, and he realized why he kept looking at him.

"It was you," he whispered, "You saved my life." Hazel looked at him weird.

"What did you say Leo?" But Leo's eyes were stuck on Nico. They did have something in common, he thought to himself. They both knew what it was like to be alone, and knew what it was like to not find a home. Which is why they both expected more for themselves.

"Nothing," Leo said, "Nothing at all. Let's go kick some mountain-gods butts!"


End file.
